DUDLEY, Mass. Ė The Nichols College menís lacrosse team opened the season with a 21-5 victory over Becker College at Vendetti Field. The Bison were led by four goals from Ryan Pacific (Danbury, Conn.) and Peter Cramer (Hanover, Mass.), and saw seven players record multiple-point games.

Nichols went up, 8-0, before Becker got on the board with 37 seconds left in the opening quarter. Nichols then added six second-quarter goals to carry a 14-1 advantage into halftime. The Bison tacked on three more in the opening three minutes of the third quarter before Becker notched a pair less than two minutes apart to make the score 17-3.

Nichols rallied back with three goals in the final three minutes of the third quarter and the teams traded goals in the final quarter, including two in the final 30 seconds.

The Bison claimed 21 of 27 faceoffs, led by 14 of 17 wins from Jeff Powers (Easton, Mass.) and six of eight wins by Timothy Dooley (Tewksbury, Mass.).

Nichols also held a 58-31 advantage in groundballs and claimed a 64-27 lead in shots, including a 26-shot performance in the opening quarter.

Austin Healy (Westford, Mass.) stopped two shots and allowed a goal in the opening half, while Scott Gray (Severn, Md.) made 11 saves and allowed four goals in the final two quarters, Becker goalkeeper Peter Fellows made 25 saves in the loss.